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List Price: $29.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 292
Released: September 23, 2008 |
| Our Price: $8.27 |
| Used Price: $7.48 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Academy Award® winners George Clooney and Ren e Zellweger team up in this fun-filled comedy set against the beginnings of pro football. Dodge Connelly (Clooney) captain of a struggling squad of barroom brawlers has only one hope to save his team: recruit college superstar Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski The Office). But when a feisty reporter (Zellweger) starts snooping around she turns the two teammates into instant rivals and kicks off a wild competition filled with hilarious screwball antics! Critics are cheering Leatherheads as a real winner (Claudia Puig USA Today).System Requirements:Running Time: 114 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/BUDDY FILMS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025195012935 Manufacturer No: 61101581
Leatherheads (Widescreen) Reviews:
"It's 1925, There Are No Rules" 
2008-10-11 - The '08 film `Leatherheads' is a perfect example of a good concept left unrealized. Attempting to tap into the American sports psyche and our innate fondness for things nostalgic, a film about the 1920's and the birth of professional football certainly sounded like the beginnings of an entertaining storyline. Complimented by a strong cast consisting of such talents as; George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski (The Office) things appeared to be starting out on a positive note and the viewing audience had no reason to suspect anything other than success for this production.
Unfortunately from my personal perspective things simply didn't go as planned. While the film successfully captures a `20's ambiance in set design, costumes and soundtrack, the film is otherwise flat, listless and lacking in soul. There are no special memorable moments in this movie whether they be romantic, comedic, athletic or otherwise. Thus the audience is left with a rather tired, glad-the-movies-over feel.
Furthermore, the love/hate relationship between George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger doesn't work at all. There dialogue may come across as crisp and witty but there's not chemistry between them, or personal attachment in their banter. Not only that, they don't come across as particularly likeable people so the viewer doesn't really care if they eventually end up together or not. I did enjoy the performance of John Krasinski, his youthful, boyish charm provided the few bright moments in the film.
Bottom Line, `Leatherheads' is one of those inexplicable films that seemed to have all the right components that somehow just didn't come together. Who knows why?
Old School Humor 
2008-10-07 - I thought this movie was pretty good. It is old school humor but it has a few yucks in there. Clooney is always good but this movie misses as compared to some of his better comedy roles. I still enjoyed it and think that it will get over with most. It just wasn't great.
clooney flubs 
2008-10-06 - This movie had one chance. To take the direction it was going in (cynical reporter sense war story not legit) and turn it around 180 degrees. That is, the "wonder-boy," who everyone expects to be an arrogant liar, is, in actuality, fairly innocent of any of the dirty-dealing that Clooney and Zellwigger seem so upset about. He could have become Zellwigger's love interest and perhaps had a creative twist. No luck. He encouraged a platoon of Germans to surrender by waking up behind them and shouting in German "We surrender" and they all gave up. That got blown up to make him look bigger. Big deal! It was slapstick mixed with narrow-minded mean-spiritted attitude it seems to me on the part of Zellwigger and Clooney. Then Clooney punches the guy out cold in a game witnessed by thousands of people but nobody notices. Thats when i shut it off. Zellwigger, never known as a cheesecake, had better stop taking these roles before she starts embarrassing herself. Her face looked like a puffy 50-year old, and the whole movie left that "left-wing, anti-war hero" stench so popular amongst Hollywood's elite. Trash and burn.
Piece of FACT: Lawrence of Arabia was in actuality,nothing more than a "leader" of a rag-tag bunch of Arabs that cleaned up after the British army had fought, and was content with whatever spoils they could steal. That was his "army."
Clooney his usual anti-American self
2008-10-04 - As a football and history fan, *fortunately* I only rented this. What starts off well as an interesting comedy about the early days of pro football later degenerates into yet another "hero journalist" and "there are no war heroes" styled story. I should've known that something involving Clooney couldn't possibly just be taken at face value with his recent history of pretentious work like Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck.
What transpires is that Clooney's pro team is struggling and folds because pro football is a joke in 1925. The big-nosed guy from the Office is a college star and war hero (from WWI). Clooney meets with him and his agent to get him to play for Duluth and invigorate interest in the pro game of football. Rene Zellweger is a squinty-eyed (but isn't she always?) journalist sent to basically ruin the mythology of the college star's war record for ... basically no reason at all.
I hate to break it Clooney and are film viewers here, but a lot of strange things happen during wartime. Some people get too much credit for events, others get no credit at all. Probably because these stories end up working their way thru several military bureaucracies. So the idea of some major newspaper wanting to ruin one of the war heroes 6 or 7 years after the fact seems to be pretty ludicrous on it's face. Except in the context of "I hate the American war-monger" and "the press is great and always right" George Clooney.
With these offensive elements aside, I'd give the film a "3" but the political content drives it down to a "1" for me.
Fun movie of a bygone era 
2008-10-04 - In the 1920's the best football games were found on college campuses. In this movie, George Clooney's character is an aging football player who is trying to put pro football on the map. He pirates a popular war hero turned Princeton football player and suddenly the crowds begin to follow the pro teams. Renee Zellweger is a sassy, saucy girl reporter who catches Clooney's eye, but seems more interested in the war hero. This is a fun movie which does a great job of depicting the mid-20's while being light and entertaining.
